Tired. Broken. Frustrated. Overwhelmed. Burnt Out.

All words I’ve heard spoken to me as I connect with those in education this month.

The field of education is on fire. Teachers, administrators, instructional aides, substitutes……everyone is overwhelmed.

And the hits keep coming. Mandates (or lack thereof), fringe parent groups with outrageous demands or accusations, politicians making decisions that clearly show they’ve never served a day in education, and even leadership in our own field who have zero compassion or empathy for the workload that is currently being expected.

When I think about where we are, sometimes it feels too much.

That’s why I remember something that was shared with me a few years ago. The simple idea that when life feels like there’s too much expected or on your plate, stop focusing on the long term picture.

Instead, just focus on taking life 5 minutes at a time. What is happening in the next 5 minutes that I can control. How will I choose to feel in the next 5 minutes? What will I focus on in the next 5 minutes?

And once those 5 minutes are up, we tackle the next 5.

It may seem silly or even ridiculous to some. But it has helped me tremendously in maintaining perspective and sanity.